


Everything's Gonna Change

by jwriter819



Series: Look What We've Become [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Adoption, Bullying, Gen, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, IronDad and SpiderSon, Irondad, Press and Tabloids, Teen Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has Daddy Issues, spiderson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-09
Updated: 2019-03-09
Packaged: 2019-11-14 07:43:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18048440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jwriter819/pseuds/jwriter819
Summary: Peter Parker is about to experience the biggest change in his life. His adoption is days from being revealed to the world. With bullies still tormenting him and the impending upheaval of his world, Peter is feeling the pressure.Will everything changing crush him or will he rise to the occasion?





	Everything's Gonna Change

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place approximately one month after the Communication Breakdown.
> 
> I'm so pleased with all of the feedback and comments. Thank you all!

Peter smiled as he walked up to the apartment with Ned on his heels. It was finally Friday and they planned on spending the weekend gorging on junk food and nerding out in an epic way. 

As they climbed the stairs Peter heard two voices inside his apartment. He stopped for a second. Ned missed his cue and walked right up to the front door. “Peter, what are you doing?” The brown haired teen rolled his eyes and moved forward. 

“Well, remind me to never take you on an actual mission,” he said as he pushed his key in the door.

Ned responded instantly. “How bad could it be?”

“Dude, if that was a serious issue, we’d be so dead," Peter responded. 

“I’d use my telepathic power to make them submit,” Ned said with an obvious tone. Peter rolled his eyes.

“Too much X-Men, Ned. Too much.”

Ned put a cheeky grin on his face. “They’re real dude.” They laughed as they moved inside of the apartment. “So did you tell your parents,” Ned said with a cheesy grin on his face, “about your laptop.”

“Ned, I’m handling it.” 

“What happened to your laptop, Kid?” Peter and Ned turned around in shock. 

“M-Mr. Stark I-I mean Tony why uh are you here?” Tony gestured his head towards Ned who had let the soda in his hand spill all over the floor. “Ned!” Peter calling his name seemed to break his friend out his trance. Immediately the teen reached out and grabbed a wad of paper towels. 

“How am I supposed to drink juice in front of Iron Man,” Ned hissed. Peter frantically tried to contain the mess and Ned seemed to only be making it worse.

“You’ve met him a million times already,” Peter said.

“Like that’s going to get old. He’s an Avenger, dude!” Tony laughed and moved closer to the kitchen before choosing to sit at the dining room table.

“Good to see someone hasn’t let the hero worship wear off,” his smirk was a mile wide as he sat there in his pinstriped suit. 

The boys finally had the sticky mess cleaned up. Peter rubbed the back of his neck. “So uh what are you doing here?”

“Your aunt got called into work, so here I am.” Peter glanced at Ned who was still standing next to him like a statue. 

“Ok, but why though?” Peter was trying to reign in his aggravation. He was tired of being babied. “We don’t need someone to watch us.” Tony raised his eyebrow.

“The last time you two had an unsupervised sleepover I got an alert that you had been stabbed,” Tony said.

“That was one time Tony,” Peter bit out. 

“One time too many,” Tony said. 

“What is this an intervention?” Tony raised his eyebrow. 

“Something of the sort,” he said still giving the boy a sharp look. “You two are coming to the Tower with me.” Ned gasped and Peter rolled his eyes. 

“Seriously? I’m not a little kid. It’s a couple of hours!” Tony’s neck slid back in surprise. His eyebrow arched instantly as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“Want to try that again,” Tony asked harshly. Peter rolled his eyes. 

“The Tower won’t be so bad, Peter,” Ned said. 

“That’s not the point. We’re fifteen years old. We don’t need a babysitter. May let us stay alone a million times.”

“My mom really doesn’t like that,” Ned said quietly. Peter turned to look at Ned.

“You’re not helping,” Peter admonished.

“I’m just saying. Maybe it’s not such a bad idea. There were like three break-ins last week in this building,” Ned said apologetically. 

“You’re house isn’t that far away,” Peter said. 

“Yeah, but it’s in a decent neighborhood. My mom worries about me when I'm over here,” Ned admitted. Peter looked over at Ned betrayed. He'd never said anything like this before now he was siding with Tony? Traitor. 

“You’re just kissing up to Tony,” Peter said. Ned shook his head. 

“You suck, Peter,” Ned said walking away and closing the front door behind him. 

“Ned! Stop,” Peter said closing the distance between them as Ned was moving as quickly as he could down the stairs. 

“What Peter?” Stepping back Peter noticed that his friend was crying. 

“Dude, I’m sorry. I was just upset.”

“Yeah, well you’re a douche,” Ned retorted. Peter sighed. 

“I didn’t mean to upset you. My bad.” Ned stared hard at his friend.

“You don’t get it, do you?” Peter gave him a confused look. “How do you think I feel sitting there waiting for you to come back? I never know if you’re dead or stabbed or what? That last time I was sick. I had no idea who to call or how to help. I love you being Spiderman, but sometimes I hate being your Guy in the Chair.” Peter took a step backward feeling like he’d been punched.

“I’m sorry Ned. I didn’t realize. There’s just so much stuff happening with the adoption and I’m stressed.”

“Yeah, Peter because everything is always about you,” Ned said turning to leave.

“Please don’t go. We can go to the Tower and have a great night. I won’t even go out as Spiderman. We’ll chill in my room.” Ned said nothing. “Come on, you know you want to.” 

“I do actually. Avengers Tower? I’m spending the night Avengers Tower, dude I write fanfiction about this! You know I have that one OC that does all this amazing stuff with the Avengers. It’s like that one movie when the pages came to life!” Peter winced.

“Let’s not tell Tony about that,” Peter said smirking. 

“Right.” The two boys trudged back up the stairs. 

Tony was sitting at the small table eyeing his phone as he glanced up at the two tweens who'd walked in. “You boys ready to go?” Peter rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, let me get my one notebook. Ned and I wanted to work on some stuff.” 

“Your attitude would be a great place to start,” Tony said. Peter fought not to roll his eyes again. 

Walking into his room, Peter looked around for his notebook. He found it quickly on his desk before walking out of his room and back towards the front of the apartment. He found Ned and Tony standing by the door. 

“Ready kid?” 

“Yeah, off to the nursery,” Peter said sullenly. Tony pressed his lips together. 

“Ok. Ned, why don’t you head downstairs to the car. Happy’s waiting,” Tony said. As the door closed behind them Tony turned towards Peter. “What’s up with you?”

“Nothing, Tony. Let’s just go.”

“No, we’re not leaving here until you tell me what’s going on.” Peter blew out a breath and let his gaze hit the floor. Peter felt Tony’s hand behind his neck pulling him towards his chest. In moments Tony had his arms wrapped around the boy. Peter relaxed in Tony’s hold and wrapped his arms around his adoptive father. 

“I’m sorry,” Peter said into Tony’s neck.

“I know, bud.” 

“It’s been a terrible day.” Tony stepped back and looked down at his son. 

“This have something to do with your laptop?” Peter shrugged. “Come on, let me help you,” Tony said.

“Flash and Jake took it,” he mumbled.

“They took your laptop?” Tony shook his head. “How’d that happen?”

“I had to run to the restroom on during study hall and when I came back it was gone,” Peter said turning red with embarrassment. 

“So your teacher didn’t say anything?” Peter shrugged.

“Come, on kid, don’t do that.”

“Flash’s parents are on the School Board Committee thing and Jake’s grandfather is the superintendent.”

“Ok,” Tony said hoping the boy would continue.

“I’m there on a scholarship. So you know.” Tony sighed. It was a trend that he knew all too well. He’d seen the New York elite throw their power around at any turn. Some of them used it to change the trajectory of the life of those less fortunate than them. 

Tony hated it when people acted that way. Especially when they weren’t really elite. These people were just well off and using it to make other people feel bad.

For all of his issues, he never used his power to put someone else down. 

“So they can treat you like like that because you’re you’re not rich?”

“They’re them and I’m just some nobody from Queens. All the teachers are afraid to say anything to them,” Peter said. He sighed. “If I get in too much trouble then they can pull my scholarship. So the teachers just kinda ignore stuff or um give them the benefit of the doubt.” Tony stared at the boy. He knew that he hadn’t gotten the whole story when he’d talked to Peter about the whole sneaking into the lab thing. 

He’d ended up grounding the boy from the lab for a month and restricting him to Spiderman to only two nights a week during that period. 

He felt justified in his decision at the time or at least once he cooled off, but now he felt like he’d made a mistake.

“Why didn’t you tell me this before?” 

“It’s embarrassing,” Peter said softly. 

“You know that I was bullied when I was younger?” Peter looked up.

“Really?” 

“Yes. I started college at fifteen. Think about how many grades I had to skip to do that. It was bad. When I was your age I was at MIT in my freshman year. You think eighteen and nineteen-year-olds want to get shown up by a kid who can’t even shave yet?” Tony shook his head. “I was in trash cans and locked in storage closets almost every day for that first semester. Then I got a new roommate and things changed. He looked out for me.”

“Mr. Rhodes?” Tony nodded. “But you were younger than them, they’re my age and I’m Spiderman. This isn’t supposed to happen to me.”

“Hey, high school is tough kid. Growing up is even harder, but I know you’ll figure it out. Plus, I’m here, so is May and so is Ned. Plus Pep and Rhodey and Happy. Kid everyone who falls in love with you when they meet you.” 

“You think so?” Tony gave him a soft look.

“Would I lie to you kid?” 

“Uh yeah.”

“Come on, kid. Happy’s probably having a conniption in the car with Ned. Let’s go save him.” 

“Ok.”

“And Peter?” 

“Yeah?”

“You’re not nobody.”

_________________________

That night Ned and Peter were setting up their own Lego creations. Peter was making a moving dump truck while Ned was focusing on making a T-Rex with moving limbs. Tony was sprawled out on the long couch directly behind them snoring softly. 

They’d eaten pizza and chicken wings until they were content. After finishing off the ice cream Tony quickly passed out during the third Star Wars movie. 

Ned spoke, "So are you ready for the announcement?” Peter shrugged and looked at the items he was trying to use to make the pulley. “Everything’s gonna change.”

“Yeah.”

“You don’t seem so excited.”

“I’m excited, but like you said everything’s going to change. You see the paparazzi every time Tony goes out? That’s going to be my life. Like Brad and Angelina’s kids.” 

“Dude, you could be on the cover of People! Oh my gosh, Peter, you could be on Ellen," Ned gushed.

“I don’t want any of that," Peter said dryly. Ned looked at him.

“Think you can avoid it?” Peter shook his head. 

“Everything’s gonna change and I want you know to be like official, but the rest of it, man. People are going to look at me differently now,” Peter said. 

“Maybe we’ll get invited to parties now,” Ned said.

“Is that all you can think of?”

“You seriously want to tell me that just for once you don’t want to be cool? Just to hang out with them and not have people whisper and ridicule you when you walk down the halls.”

“Like this though?” They sat in silence for a couple of moments letting the weight of the situation crash over them. 

“Are you going to forget about me, Peter?”

“What? No!” Peter said louder than he’d like to. He glanced at Tony who was still snoring. “You’re my best friend, we’ve been together since Kindergarten.”

“That was before all of this,” Ned said not looking at Peter anymore. Peter kept his eyes fixed on his creation in front of him. 

“When everything changes that won’t.” Peter reached out and Ned responded by doing their handshake. They shared a look before settling in.

“So uh what’s the plan?”

“Well the press conference is on Monday, but the paperwork is already done. We signed everything last week," Peter said feeling butterflies in his stomach. 

“Did you decide on if you were changing your name? I know uh you were having a hard time with that.” Peter nodded. 

“I talked to May. I’ll always love my parents and Ben,” Peter blew as he out his breath. “But um we decided that it’s ok to move forward too.”

“Yeah?”

“So it’s going to be Peter Parker Stark. That seemed like the best way to honor my past and my present.” 

“That’s cool Peter. Really cool,” Ned said nodding. 

“Thanks.” 

“Did you tell Tony about your laptop?” Peter glanced back at the man who was still asleep.. 

“Yeah, he was pretty understanding,” Peter said in a low voice. 

“He was? Dude, they pushed you off a stool and took your laptop. How was he cool with that?” 

“Dude! Be quiet.” Peter thought back to earlier in the day. Ever since the “Peter Lost His Mind” fiasco, Flash and Jake had been out to get him even more than before. It was like they were determined to figure out what his secret was. 

They started spreading any and every rumor that they could come up with. None of them were close to the truth, but most of them still made him feel terrible. The worst was that he wasn’t eating at home so they fed him only during his internship. 

It’d gotten so bad that someone asked him if he needed to sign up for charity lunch. 

A teacher asked him if they were problems at home. Peter knew that his face was red, but he burned with anger as he heard Jake and Flash laughing across the hall. 

Since that day Peter had spent his lunch hiding in the library away from everyone.

“I’m just saying Peter, things are getting really bad. You should probably tell Mr. Stark or May at least.” 

“I can’t tell them, Ned.”

“Why not?” 

“Because they already treat me like I’m a kid.”

“Peter you are a kid.”

“Stop saying that.”

“You are though. We’re only fifteen. There’s just so much we can handle on our own.” Peter picked up his Lego stack. “What are you going to do if they take your phone or your watch?”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Tony’s phone started to buzz on the table next to the couch. Sliding over to pick it up, Peter felt his blood boil. 

It was a picture from Happy of Peter’s laptop with the caption that read: Kid didn’t want to give it up. 

Peter couldn’t believe his eyes. Tony had sent Happy to retrieve his laptop. 

Peter heard Tony move on the couch before standing behind him. “Whatcha looking at Pete?” The teen shook his head as he turned to look at the man..

“Why do you have to ruin everything,” Peter asked irritated. Tony’s face fell into a frustrated scowl. 

“Whoa, watch it, kid," Tony said firmly. Peter shook his head.

“Whatever, I’m going to my room.” 

“Pete, calm down buddy. I was just trying to help,” Tony said.

“I don’t need your help and I don’t want it,” Peter bit back. Ned stood up. 

“I’m going to head to your room and take a shower,” he said fleeing the awkward situation. 

Tony kept his eyes on Peter as he spoke, “What’s going on, bud? Are you stressed out?” Peter shook his head.

“I’m not a little kid. I need you guys to let me handle things on my own.”

“I just want things to happen the right way. No one should treat you like that.” 

“Why couldn’t you just let me handle it? It was my laptop," Peter said crossing his arms as he glared at Tony.

“Peter, it’s not ok for people to treat you like that.”

“But they do! You’re you and I’m me! If it wasn’t for you flashing your money and influence, this would continue to happen. How does that make you any better than them?” Tony took a step back. He looked like he’d been punched. 

“Why don’t you head into your room for the night? We can clean all of this up in the morning.” It sounded like a suggestion, but Peter knew it wasn’t. He’d screwed up again. 

“Tony?” The man shook his head looking a little emotional. 

“Just go, bud.” Peter grabbed his phone off the table and took the elevator up to his room. As soon as he walked inside he found Ned on the floor playing the Wii. 

Ned looked up from the game expectantly and asked, “How’d it go?”

“Not great, I think I’m in trouble,” Peter said sullenly. 

“No kidding Peter. You blew up over nothing.” Peter flopped backward on the bed. 

“I didn’t mean to.” He let out a frustrated grunt. “I just keep ruining everything!”

“Dude, you gotta chill out. You’ve been wound up so tight for so long. Like, take a deep breath.” Peter rubbed his hand across his face. He pushed himself off his bed and went into the hallway. 

“Friday, where’s Tony?”

“He’s in his room, Peter.” 

“Is he asleep?”

“No, he’s on the phone.”

“With Pepper?”

“Colonel Rhodes. It appears that he is discussing you," the AI said. Peter sighed. 

“Can you ask him if I can talk to him?” Peter leaned forward then backward on his bare feet. 

“You can go in Peter.” As he walked into the room, the teen found Tony standing on his bed with his phone still in his hand. 

“Can I come in?” The man nodded. Peter took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Tony. I don’t know what’s going on with me. I’m-I just don’t know.” Tony didn't respond. “I just wanted to say that I was sorry.” 

“Come here, Peter.” The teen walked across the room and sat on the bed near Tony’s feet. “Is this adoption bothering you?” 

“No.”

“Are you sure?” 

“It’s just everything’s going to change.”

“We don’t have to tell the press Pete, we can just keep doing things like planned.”

“I don’t want you to have to lie.”

“It’s not lying Peter.”

“But it is, it’s a lie by omission. You’re not telling them about me is the same as saying I don’t exist. I want you to be honest with the press. That’s how you’ll get their respect and continue to have influence.” Tony smiled at his son. “What?”

“You’re going to take us into an amazing future.” 

“Toonnnnny,” he whined.

“What? I’m proud of you kid. You have a good heart and a great mind for business. You really have nothing to worry about.” 

“It’s not that. Ever since I met you, my life has changed.” Peter felt the man beside him tense. “In a great way though! Like for real, but even with the Spiderman updates and all the time we spend together, I just wasn’t ready for the way people would look at me differently. Flash and Jake didn’t target my laptop because of my internship, they wanted to know why me, Peter Parker, had a personalized laptop. Like I didn’t deserve it.” 

“Pete,” Tony said as the boy shook his head.

“They started to notice when I wore better shoes and my clothes stopped looking so worn all the time. Now, when we do this press conference they’re going to know why and I’m sure it’s going to be a nightmare. I want to do the press conference, but I just know everything is going to change.” 

“Can I talk now?” 

“Yeah.”

“You’re right bud, things are going to change. You’re probably going to have people following you around trying to take pictures and ask you questions. You’re going to see people treat you differently because of who I am because they want to get close to me.” Peter nodded. “You’re probably going to have kids who want to be your friend that have treated you like dirt for a long time.”

“Yeah.”

“But I want you to know that there are a couple of things that won’t ever change. May’s been your mom for a long time and she’s not going anywhere. Ned, your buddy who’s in your room right now isn’t going anywhere. Peter, you’ve got me. We’re still going to hang out in the lab, we’re going to have movie nights, we’re going to work on that car we’ve been building. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from being in the spotlight for so long is that when you have people who truly care about you that you hold onto them. That’s your choice bud, we’re all going to be here it’s up to you who stays and goes.”

“So, just because things change doesn’t mean that I have to?” Tony nodded.

“You make adjustments and grow and develop, but you never forfeit who you are.” Peter smiled. “What?”

“You’re a good dad,” Tony smirked at his son. 

“I’ve got a good kid.”  
_________________________

Tony stood on the podium with a smile on his face that would rival the arc reactor’s power. Peter smiled nervously as May pulled him in for a hug. 

“Everything’s about to change, May.” She smiled at him as she ran her fingers through his hair. 

“But nothing important is going to change, remember that.” 

“I love you May.” He squeezed her. “You’re a great mom. Thank you for being more than I could ever ask for.” He saw her eyes begin to glisten. She wiped her eyes quickly. 

“Tony’s about to introduce you, Pete,” Pepper said smiling at them. 

“You’re up, baby,” May said. Peter Parker stepped onto the steps to the stage for the last time. The electric buzz was in the air. Peter knew that this moment was going to change his life forever.

He caught Tony’s eye. 

Showtime. 

“I want to introduce everyone to my son, Peter Parker Stark.” Peter stepped onto the stage and walked towards his father. They stood shoulder to should for ten seconds before Pepper took the stage to announce the end of the press conference. As soon as the Starks walked off the platform, Tony pulled Peter in for a bone crushing hug.

“We made it bud,” he said as he broke the hug and smiled at the boy. Peter smiled up at Tony as the man looked down at him. “I’m glad you’re my son.”

“I’m glad you’re my dad.”


End file.
